Opera will be more accessible in Toronto beginning in September when the Canadian Opera Company adds 50 standing-room tickets available on the day of each performance for just $12 each. “I believe that’s cheaper than a movie,” joked COC general director Alexander Neef, left, at a press conference held this morning to announce the company’s 2010/11 season.
“Our new season is representative of my pledge to present opera of the highest international standards,” said Neef. “With great new productions of classic favourites, the introduction of works never before seen on our stages, and brilliant, imaginative productions from around the world, you have a perfect opera season.”
Neef noted that in the four years since the COC moved into the new Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, the company has enjoyed 99 per cent capacity. “Demand for opera continues to be high in spite of the difficult economic climate,” he said.
Neef added that in North America, only the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and the Lyric Opera of Chicago produce more work. “We want to continue to contribute to the cultural vitality of the city and of the country,” he stated.
The media was out in force to cover the season announcement. In 2010/11 the company presents two new productions of operatic favourites Aida and The Magic Flute: the COC premiers two contemporary works — John Adams’s Nixon in China and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, and the company performs three operas it hasn’t done in at least 15 years — Death in Venice, La Cenerentola and Ariadne auf Naxos.
“Audiences tend to be afraid of contemporary works,” conceded the director, “but Nixon in China and Orfeo ed Euridice are extremely accessible.”
Neef also announced the publication of the Canadian Opera Company at Sixty: A Diamond Celebration from Madison Press Books. Due for release in November, the deluxe, limited-edition book is 352 pages and will retail for a breathtaking $200.
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